Sweet sixteen: Town turns a year older
The Town of Fort Myers Beach threw a party to celebrate its 16th birthday at Times Square on Saturday. Beach goers had a chance to not only revel in New Year’s Eve festivities, but to rejoice in another year of independent existence with Town officials.
The party featured live entertainment on a built stage in the Square in the afternoon and evening and led up to another spectacular combined fireworks show by The Semmer Team and Garden State Fireworks. The theme of the event was Sweet Sixteen due to the Town’s incorporation 16 years ago on Dec. 31, 1995.
“We let everybody know that Dec. 31 is our birthday. It’s a great opportunity to have a celebration New Year’s Eve and a birthday at the same time,” said Town Manager Terry Stewart. “We wanted to wish everybody a Happy Sweet Sixteenth birthday and a Happy New Year.”
There was plenty of free sweetness -800 cupcakes- handed out to kick start the afternoon. According to Stewart, the event emcee, it didn’t take long to disseminate the free sweets. The Fort Myers Beach Woman’s Club were the main volunteers in that endeavor.
“Those cupcakes went quick. In 1 hours, they were gone,” he said. “Thanks goes out to the Fort Myers Beach Woman’s Club and a couple of other volunteers that have done this in the past.”
Stewart also was surprised to see the 50 t-shirts that were made for the event sell out at a quick rate as well.
“I gave eight or 10 out to the volunteers, then we sold the rest of them to cover what we paid for. People loved them. They had a nice design,” he said. “We would have made more, but the t-shirts didn’t sell well in the past.”
Beach musician Mary Winner was the first performer to take the stage. She was followed by “Lucky Dog” Steve Lutke to fill out the afternoon portion of live music. Tommy V., David Potter and Habitat for Harmony were lined up for the evening entertainment.
Another great display of fireworks completed the day’s activities. For the past 23 years, the partnership between The Semmer Team and Garden State Fireworks, a team of federally licensed pyrotechnic experts who manufacture their own fireworks, has produced an eye-popping electrical show that keeps Beach residents and visitors returning each year.